I don't care much about Tucker Carlson, about the infighting of American politics, or the topics of foreign affairs or Iran wars or whether Trumpian Republicans will be reelected, etc etc.

...but I do care about this sort of expensive, personal, features-based journalism so I will read and spread. The opening reads like a novel. Beautiful piece of, not quite “investigative” journalism but definitely journalism — of the sort out AI-fueled, clickbait-hungry, bullshit world desperately needs.The Gonzo we miss, and the Gonzo we no longer deserve

It is a long drive to Tucker Carlson’s barn in Maine, and his latest podcast on Israel’s wars makes for an odd soundtrack on the rental-car stereo as I wind my way through a landscape of placid lakes and towering pines, moose crossing road signs and more than a few lobster shacks

"It feels a long way from the city of power and privilege where Carlson made his name as a journalist and then a prolific rightwing commentator. But, in the view of the American politicians and powerbrokers he so unnerves, it’s not nearly far enough."

This bit feels like PR cope… no way somebody that much in the limelight isn’t at least aware of what he’s raking in. (No doubt there are accountants and businesspeople in his realm that could give you an exact figure on the spot.)

he launched The Tucker Carlson Show, recorded from his barn and streamed to millions over YouTube and other platforms. He says he actually doesn’t know what he earns from the show “but it seems good” and his audience is “many multiples” of what they were during his top-rated run at Fox.

When Trump, as every politician does, betrayed his promises, Carlson felt it was “perhaps the rudest awakening in his life.”

Much to the chagrin of the White House, in the midst of an election year, he has turned his podcast into a megaphone for pointed criticism of the administration, devoting hours to wrestling over the question of how he got Trump so wrong. This was a guy with “a trail of bankruptcies and personal betrayals”, Carlson reflected on a recent episode. He should have known better.

(The smart money over at @team_predyx says 1.5%)

“Does Carlson represent the vestiges of a Maga movement gone awry under Trump? Or the future of a revised conservative movement not yet realised?”

Lots of talk about midterms and energy prices leading up to it. Kind of (=largely) self-inflicted by a warmongering government misjudging its own abilities. Also:

what makes Carlson so threatening to his former party is not just his fixation on Trump’s unpopular war. It is that he believes Trump launched this war, in violation of his own principles and US interests, because Israel wanted him to. By explicitly tying a major US decision to pressure from Israel, Carlson has tapped into an undercurrent of antisemitism on the far right that the GOP would rather see sequestered

… Unburdened by a primetime TV show, Carlson tells me he no longer feels obliged to track the daily news. He has no TV in the Maine house, and no newspaper gets delivered….

Excellent. Good on him.

...and this is unlike some people we know in Bitcoinland, dazzled by fame and white houses

Excellent and necessary journalistic trait:

One of Carlson’s great skills — or flaws, depending on who is watching — as an interviewer and conversationalist is that he is able to come across as empathetic to nearly everyone he speaks with. His fans say this approach elicits more thoughtful conversation. His critics say he winds up sounding like a “useful idiot” or apologist for people with horrific views.

And also, no Tucker in a future JD Vance administration:

It’s easy to imagine a triumphant Carlson returning to Washington under a Vance presidency. But Carlson dismisses the idea and acknowledges that Vance may not be able to escape the legacy of Trump’s war, when the time comes. “It’s something I’ve thought about a lot . . . just as someone who really loves JD as a person. I feel sad about it.”

https://archive.md/Xk9vR